Sens. Maggie Hassan, D-N.H., and James Lankford, R-Okla., introduced the Federal Agency Customer Experience (FACE) Act of 2019 on May 1 to improve American customer service experiences when they interact with Federal agencies.
The legislation would allow agencies to more efficiently assess customer satisfaction with government services through short surveys developed with the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) and the General Services Administration (GSA). The bill also mandates that participating agencies would also publish the customer feedback online and with OMB.
“The bipartisan FACE Act will help identify changes or improvements that federal agencies need to make by allowing agencies to receive feedback directly from American taxpayers,” Hassan said.
The surveys would be anonymous and would allow users to provide input about overall satisfaction of their experience with agency services, if they accomplished their intended purpose, if they felt they were treated with respect and professionalism, and how timely the service was.
“My office routinely hears from taxpayers who have identified Federal agency customer service concerns, including timeliness of benefit processing, quality of communication, and general responsiveness,” Lankford said. “Congress cannot fix what it cannot see, and the FACE Act brings sunlight to the quality of federal agencies’ day-to-day interactions with constituents and gives American taxpayers greater ability to have their voices heard regarding their customer service experience with agencies.”
Reps. Gerry Connolly, D-Va., and Brian Fitzpatrick, R-Penn., plan to introduce a House companion bill.